Cornwall/London/Iceland Road Trip 8-26 July 2016 Summary/Itinerary

TRIP SUMMARY:

Weather was good except some days of light rain & 1 day of heavy rain in Iceland. Weather in Iceland was colder at 10-12C though it was summer. Cannot imagine what it is like in Winter! Temperature in Cornwall seemed colder, maybe due to jet lag. Temperature in London was ideal.

LONDON: First time trying airbnb in UK at the persuasion of my son and it was a great experience! It was a home from home. I could do all the washing & cooking in the bnb and the rate paid was better than the hotel's. It does not have the full luxury of a hotel (making of bed/change of towels/>1 bathroom) but certainly has the comfort of a home with a fully functionally kitchen and washer.

The city has a long history and the buildings and castles are uniquely old, classical and beautiful. The crowd at Buckingham Palace is just amazing and overwhelming! There are many historical parish churches with beautiful artitecture sprouting everywhere in London. You find them literally at every corner. London is very much like Singapore due to its right hand drive. We feel at home. Similiar to Singapore, there is construction/digging is everywhere... I noticed that there are many bags of packed rubbish lying around in town!

The food my son recommended in London was pretty delicious except Giotto. Most are tasty and value for money. With the high exchange rate, the cost is about twice that of Singapore! The lobster was very good, cheaper than Singapore's. The new Fortune cookie restaurant was our favourite - we went there twice. My favourite places are Borough Market and Queensway as they are more colourful and vibrant!

We did not go inside the castles as the entry fees are hefty at 20GBP and due to lack of time. The two most recommended ones are South Hampton and Tower of London. Lastly, Stonehenge was definitely overpriced even at a pre-booked entry fee of 15.50GBP.

On the other hand,
ICELAND is relatively a younger nation with a population of 300k. Cost of living is super high in Iceland. A bowl of Thai street noodles which costed 50Baht in Bangkok costed close to SGD18 in a cafe set up. a set of fish and chip from a shed foodstall costed SGD30 at the waterfall attraction. Things in the supermarket are also super expensive. A loaf of bread costs SGD4 plus. Furthremore, food is not as fantastic as the scenery but food to a tourist is as important as the scenery. There is literally only 1 or no food stall at the natural attraction so we had to pack lunch everyday though I was told this is only required in the Highlands. Restroom facilities need to be improved greatly as there was no restroom along the long stretch of remote highway 1 circling round the island. We had to hold our bladder literally or do not drink water till we reach the hotel. I think the country needs to improve on that.

Everything is so costly in Iceland. The only thing I find reasonable is the laundry service at one of the school hostel turned hotel/guesthouse during Summer. It costed SGD11 plus for a 5kg load!

Iceland's signature food like lamb stew, lamb chop, hot dog are so so though hubby liked the lamb stew he tasted in Hard Wok Cafe. It tasted like the potato carrot soup with pork rib I cooked at home. I must admit that the fish (or cod fish) is good and fresh. Overall, by far, this is the most expensive county I have ever visited though entrance to the most of the natural sightseeing like the beautiful waterfalls, canyons, glacier lagoons and gaint geysirs and hot springs are free. Kerið Crater costed 400ISK though. Iceland is a cashless societu. Credit/Debit cards are used widely, even for retrooms and visiting the country will leave you very much cashless.

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Breakfast at KrisFlyer Gold Lounge , Terminal 3 -> Flight to Heathrow, London -> Drove to Bath -> Check in Bath airbnb -> Dinner at Red Lion, Bath

Day 2 - Mcdonald's Breakfast -> View of Bath -> Bath Abbey -> Burger King's -> Stonehenge -> Drove to Newlyn, Cornwall -> Checkin airbnb -> Dinner at Red Lion.

Day 3 - Cook breakfast -> St Ives -> Tea at cafe -> Church service at Fore Street Methodist Church St Ives -> Lunch at Burger House -> Pandennis Castle -> Kenyance Cove -> Lizard Cove Point -> cook Dinner

Day 4 - Cook breakfast -> Merry Maidens -> Minack Theatre -> Land's ends -> Mackeral Sky, Penzance -> St Michael's Mount -> Cook Dinner

Day 5 - Cook breakfast -> check out -> Lunch at Lock Inn -> Bradford on Avon -> check in to West Ashton bnb -> Castle Combe -> Lacock Village -> Cook Dinner

Day 6 - Cook breakfast -> Somerset Lavender Farm -> Drove to London -> Vietnamese Lunch at Bun Mi Bay -> Uber to London airbnb -> Check in -> Dinner at Flat Iron -> Oxford Street -> UBER

Day 7 - Cook breakfast -> King Cross Station Harry Potter 93/4 platform -> Borough Market -> Tower Bridge -> Pass by Tower of London -> Lunch at Burger & Lobster -> Museum of London -> St Paul Cathedral -> Harrods -> Hyde Park -> Dinner at New Fortune Cookie Chinese Restaurant

Day 8 - Cook breakfast -> Portobello Road -> Papa John's Pizza Lunch -> Convocation at LSE -> Dinner at Hare & Tortoise -> Watch Wicked at Victoria Theatre

Day 9 - Cook breakfast -> Covent Garden -> St Paul's church -> Trafalgar Square -> The Athenaeum -> St James Palace -> Buckingham Palace -> St James Park -> House Guards Parade -> Big Ben -> Westminster Abbey -> House of Parliament -> Lunch at Giotto Italian -> Brunswick Shopping Centre near Russell Square -> Little Venice -> Dinner at New Fortune Cookie Chinese Restaurant

Day 10 - Cook breakfast - > Checkout -> Travel to Gatwick Airport -> Fly to Iceland -> Arrive in Reykjavík -> Check in 22 Hill Hotel -> 22 hill Hotel Review -> Dinner at Ban Thai - > Hallgrímskirkja Church -> Laugavegur: The Main Shopping Street

Day 11 - Breakfast -> Pick up rental car -> Seljalandsfoss, where a walk behind the falls -> Skógafoss -> Lunch fish & chip -> Vik -> Black Beach -> Check in cottage at Hótel Eyjafjallajökul

Day 12 - Breakfast -> Check out -> Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon -> hiking trail takes you to Svartifoss -> Lunch fish & chip -> Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon -> Jökulsarlón, the Glacial Lagoon -> Check in Guesthouse Hvammur, Hofn

Day 13 - Breakfast -> Check out -> Dettifoss -> Selfoss -> Lunch Sandwiches -> Námaskarð Pass, where boiling mud pools -> Lake Mývatn -> Dimmuborgir, the "Dark Castles" -> crater -> Pizza Dinner at Dalakofinn Laugum -> check in Hótel Edda Stórutjarnir

Day 14 - Breakfast -> Goðafoss -> Akureyri City the Capital of the North -> víðimýri church -> 11 km new tunnel from Ólafsfjörður to Siglufjörður -> Hofsos -> Check in Hótel Mikligarður -> Dinner at Hard Wok Cafe

Day 15 - Breakfast -> Icelandic Seal Center at Hvammstangi town -> Hraunfossar and Barnafossar Waterfalls -> -> Deildartunguhver hot spring -> Check in Hótel Litli Geysir -> Dinner at cafe at Geysir Centre -> Gullfoss -> Great Geysir and Strokkur

Day 16 - Breakfast -> Þingvellir National Park -> Faxi Waterfall -> volcanic crater Kerið -> Deildartunguhver hot spring -> Reykjavík -> Check in 22 Hill Hótel -> Lunch at Noodle Station -> Reykjavík City Tour -> Dinner at Krua Thai

Day 17 - Flybus to Airport -> Fly to Gatwick, London -> Lunch at Clerk & Well -> Check in Leonardo Heathrow -> Dinner at Hotel

Day 18 - Fly to Singapore -> Home Sweet Home